While the ToC and Urban Debate National Championship are still two weeks away, some of Washington Urban Debate League’s best and brightest, faced off with students from around the nation. Middle School Nationals featured even more leagues than usual as the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance participated for the first time. 

At the end of four rounds, all of WUDL’s teams were still alive, accompanied by at least one team from every participating league (Dallas, Miami, Tulsa, Memphis, Boston, and Kansas City). 

Over a grueling and emotional day, single elimination debates winnowed the field. 

Kettering (Kourouma / Calva) and Stuart Hobson’s (BrucknerRust / West) were the first to be eliminated, finishing as Octo-Finalists. Their enthusiasm and support for their fellow students was so high, that all four debaters stuck around until the end, doing a practice round with spare judges to further hone their skills and watching and helping their friends prepare for the debates ahead. 

In Quarter-Finals, it was Stuart Hobson’s (Ben-Shalom / Nwagwu) whose journey ended. Experienced debaters who had qualified to the tournament last year, they advanced further than the year before. 

In Semi-Finals, Stuart Hobson’s McWhirter / Jones also had their journey end, along with Miami’s Ponce De Leon Academy, leaving only 2 WUDL Teams left for the finals. 

In a hard fought battle between Oyster Adam’s Ferris-Artiga / Quintann and Eliot Hine’s Taylor / Thorn, we had a clash of two great, supremely experienced teams. Taylor (debating with their current partner’s older brother), was in semi-finals last year. They’ve been to almost every regional in Varsity as 7th graders this year, and certainly came in as the team to beat. Meanwhile, Ferris-Artiga usually debates with someone else, and while he and normal partner Gucuk have been to some regionals, they also spend half the year debating in Spanish, and it was the Quintann / Ferris-Artiga partnership that made a run at MS Nationals. They were the lowest preliminary seed to escape Octo-Finals, facing off against the top two speakers in the tournament. 
While they put up a valiant effort, the experience Taylor / Thorn brought to the table was too much, bringing the MS Nationals trophy back to Capitol Hill (though not to Stuart Hobson) for another year. 

Many thanks to our fellow leagues (especially Roger Nix and Boston) for co-hosting this event with us, and to the wonderful community of alumni and past winners who helped out and served as the judge panels. Alumni Aisha Bah (MS Nats Champ 2019), Zahra Dinkins (Top Seed, 2021) and alums KesUraNu Baylor (A distinguished career across E. Roosevelt, and Dora Kennedy) and Haven Howard (Browne EC, Phelps) judged remotely, while Marshall (MS Nats Finalist 2025), Evelyn (MS Nat Champ, 2024), Jack (MS Nats Champ, 2025), Susie and Margaret (MS Nats Champs, 2023), and Sitara (MS Nats Champ 2022). 

Also a big shout out to Ashleigh Rose (Eliot Hine) and Lotonia Ferguson (Latin Cooper) for hosting the competitors, coaches, and judges during the tournament.